Family and social factors affecting 10- to 11-year-old children's mental development

This study deals with one crosscut evaluation of a longitudinal study, in which children and their families were followed up from the time of pregnancy until the children were 10-11 years old. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the family structures, the parents' health, and the family's social factors on mental health of the 10- to 11-year-old children. The information was collected by two questionnaires: a background information questionnaire and Rutter Scale A, which measures a child's mental development. According to the results of this study, the number of children in the family, the parents' marital status, the size of the home, the number of moves, and day-care place changes had a statistically significant effect on a 10- to 11-year-old child's total score on Rutter Scale A. The most important factor was the number of children in the family: being the only child in the family significantly increased the child's statistical possibility of being mentally disturbed. Family and social factors present explained 18% of the total variance on the child's Rutter Scale A.